Ripple (XRP) 2018: 5 Major Partnerships and Announcements

Apart from bitcoin, Ripple (XRP) has also taken the world of cryptocurrencies by storm. However, Ripple should not be confused as a cryptocurrency. It is actually a system for settling payments in a fast and secure manner. The main aim is to provide a transparent and safe payment system as an alternative to the already existing systems. A good example is the SWIFT payment system. In the last two months there have been a number of events happening within ripple from partnerships to major announcements. Some of the major ones as as listed below;

Ripple Partnership with Moneygram

On 11th January 2018, Moneygram the renowned global cash remittance company joined the Ripple (XRP) bandwagon. The aim is to facilitate the quick and cheap transfer of money by their customers across the world. Through the use of XRP cryptocurrency, they get to solve the liquidity issue that most institutions grapple with. The current models also require the use of pre-funded accounts across the world. However, with moneygram’s adoption of the XRP network ledger, payments will go through the xRapid system. This will see the reduction of FX costs and fees incurred while sending money across borders.

24th January 2018

On this day Ripple partnered with two more financial services in its tight race to establish itself as a crypto of choice for the establishment. The two companies are IDT and Mercury FX which resolved to utilize Ripple (XRP) currency. This currency runs exclusively on the xRapid-service which will facilitate sending of cash anywhere in the world at an extremely low cost. In fact Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse claims that the technology is much faster and more efficient compared to bitcoin. It delivers instant transactions that do not take more than three seconds. And this applies globally.

30th January 2018

SBI holdings, a japanese based companies declared that its SBI virtual currency will use XRP as the only digital asset supported during its launch. By joining the xRapid system, the company claims that it will assist institutions gain liquidity for cross-border payments between the rest of the world and japan. Through their system, banks and provider will be able to convert XRP fo JPY as well as other currencies.

7th February 2018

LianLian international, one of the leading chinese payment providers made a groundbreaking move to join RippleNet. This move was motivated by a desire to enable quicker payments to and from china. The country has witnessed an exponential growth in e-commerce with Amazon, Ali Express and Ebay being the dominant players. The company plans to utilize xCurrent, which is Ripple’s settlement solution. It powers cross-border transactions between china and Europe as well as the US. in addition to that, xCurrent provides end-to-end tracking which further enhances security.

14th February 2018

Ripple and saudi arabian monetary authority (SAMA) embarked on a pilot program aimed as saudi banks. The aim is to assist banking institutions improve their payment systems via the use of xCurrent. The authority intends to use xcurrent for the instant settlements of payments into and out of the country at minimal cost and more transparency.

Other events

Over the first two months of 2018, RippleNet has continued to strengthen the access of emerging markets into Brazil, India and china. World bank reports indicate that cash remittances are poised to grow by over 3.4% in 2018, with china and india showing the highest incoming transactions in 2017.

Furthermore Ripple (XRP) has continued on its resolution of continued decentralization as well as the XRP ledger consensus protocol. This strategy will be undertaken in 2 phases. The first phase has seen the migration to the use of validator manifests, improvement of security and the publication of a recommended Unique Node List(UNL). This list utilizes the company’s Dynamic UNL infrastructure.

The second phase will involve integration of independent validators to the recommended UNL. during this period, for every two independent validators added to the recomenneed UNL, a single Ripple-operated validator gets removed. The endgame is to create a network with various sets of validators, run by different entities from varied locations with a common goal: the long term stability and security of the Ripple (XRP) Ledger.

Share this:

This information should not be interpreted as an endorsement of cryptocurrencies or a recommendation to invest. Historic performance is no guarantee of future returns. As an investment class, cryptocurrencies are speculative investments and investing in cryptocurrencies involves significant risks – they are highly volatile, vulnerable to hacking and capital loss and sensitive to secondary activity. Before investing you should obtain advice and decide whether the potential return outweighs the risks.